Blood instinct
by jin0uga
Summary: Vampire!Ruby. Her voice sounded akin to a tempting songstress and a deadly predator, smooth like melted butter but as dangerous as arsenic. "I have a proposition for you." [Re-writing in progress]
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I do not own RWBY and other stuff. You know the drill.

**AN**: Yep, so upon the request of _rwbybomb21_, I give you a Vampire!ruby x Neo story. It was pretty fun to write, especially since I've been doing nothing but read and play persona 3 plus work. Let me know what you guys think! Probably going to be a story but I want to update RnP so this story will be kinda slow. Sorry :/

* * *

Pieces of armor lay scattered everywhere. Body parts were strewn across the empty field of dead grass and shattered rocks; the scene resembling that of a warzone. Men and women alike groaned with pain, some crying while others were stone cold. Sounds of guns blazing with the occasional loud thump of something heavy sliced through the unsettling atmosphere, making the half dead curl into fetal positions, shaking with fear.

General Ironwood grit his teeth in pain as the woman before him directed another blazing ball of fire toward him; followed by a shockwave of intense heat akin to being thrown into the open mouth of a volcano, a testament to her superb control of semblance and dust manipulation. Pushed back several feet by the bombardment of fire and rock, he ducked beneath the next volley of attacks and launched himself forward, the gun poised and ready to fire.

Desperation apparent in his normally stoic face, James parried her sudden kick, wincing at the brute force behind it, as he moved took advantage of her momentarily lapse, the intricate runes in her dress dimming when her body ran out of energy.

Thinking he had won, the general pressed the trigger, watching in satisfaction as the bullet lodged itself in her chest…only to be melt in a shower of bright sparks and an odd '_ping'_ sound which signaled his doom.

James gasped at the searing pain which flooded his body when Cinder's hand cut threw his burly chest like a knife through butter, the wound feeling as if it had been doused in gasoline and lighted on fire. Limbs flailing as he fell back, the man choked down a splutter as blood bubbled up his throat and threatened to escape his mouth in a shower of red liquid.

Cinder readied her hand for another hit, a feral grin on her lips as her dress shone with all her fury and madness, only to be hit by something with all the force of a two ton truck. "Father!" Penny yelled in anger and fear as she did a sweeping strike with her levitating swords, forming a protective shield in front of general Ironwood. The man couldn't respond to her heart felt cry, his eyes widening by a fraction of a second as he watched his daughter defend him in her ghastly condition.

The thin layer of 'skin' previously applied over her body was flapping limply in the wind, the dull grey of steel bared for the entire world to see. Penny's normally springy hair was partly chopped off, the green ribbon she had gotten for her birthday nowhere to be seen. Cinder snarled silently at the sight, but the pain of being pummeled aside was forgotten when she spotted the large splatter of red on Ironwood's pristine military coat, the blood rapidly spreading through the material like an accursed web of red.

"You shall pay for your indiscretions against my father!" The robot yelled, her voice making some fallen soldiers perk up weakly. Maybe all hope was not lost, they thought to themselves as they willed their broken and beaten bodies to move.

But the flaming empress would have none of it.

"And how would I, little girl?" She sneered. "Look at yourself. It's laughable if you think that you can kill me in your condition, let alone take revenge for that pathetic excuse of a man." Cinder threw her head back and laughed, internally smirking when the robot uneasily glanced at herself, doubt creeping into her features. "And if you haven't noticed yet, daddy is bleeding a hole into the ground. Oh but you wouldn't know anything about dying would you?" The woman spoke condescendingly, her elegant eyebrows lifting. "After all…you're not even _real_."

Penny stiffened at her words, her body going rigid as she let herself get buried under the twisted truth. It was at that moment that Neo lunged from her hiding place in the shadows, slicing deeply into the robot's side and severing several connectors which connected Penny's core to her mechanical limbs. One of her two arms dangled uselessly by her side, making Cinder grin even wider.

"I see that you've let your prey get away." She said evenly. "And here I was, thinking you could handle her Neo."

'_Fuck you'_ Was what could be interpreted from the look Neo shot her, brown and pink irises narrowing in annoyance. But what she signed was instead: '_I simply saved the best for last. Now you can watch me kill her and bask in the afterglow or whatever'_ The thin blade slid back into its sheath, transforming back into a normal parasol as the ice cream themed girl relaxed from her battle stance and grinned arrogantly at Cinder.

The older woman ignored her reply and focused back on the robot girl, who was struggling to retain control over her limbs. There was a flash of green as several swords shot forward, seeking to impale the two warm bodies, but only managed to embed itself into the soil as Neo unleashed an illusion, tricking Penny.

Cinder toyed with her, reveling in the desperation in the mechanical girl's eyes as she summoned orbs of molten rock and hurled them towards her. It wasn't the type of attack that she often used, preferring quick lunges and neck cracking, but the woman accepted the fact that even she needed to pummel things sometimes.

"I will not give up!" The statement was punctuated by another swipe of her swords, Neo jumping back just in time to prevent her from being sliced into ribbons. "I am of far higher aptitude in combat and endurance than any of you! I suggest you give up before help arrives." Penny replied the same winding sentences she used normally as she protected her father from a hail of bullets.

'_Now what?' _Neo signed moodily as she placed a hand on her hip and twirled the lacy pink parasol resting on her shoulder blades. '_I don't really feel like fighting any more of these guys.' _She clicked her teeth in distaste and irritation. _'She seems to be telling the truth about the backup too.' _

"In that case, we should just move on to plan B." Cinder replied smoothly, not missing a beat as she protected herself from an incoming grenade tossed at her. "Ironwood won't survive. The only help he will get is getting someone to toss him into his grave."

The cruel glint in her eyes made even Neo take a step back. The woman was crazy as she was dangerous, the girl decided warily. '_Want me to get tan, green and bitchy?' _She had begun to sign, but a shadow at the corner of her eye caught her attention. The sensation of death suddenly flooded the air around them, invisible tendrils curling around her arms and legs and leaving Goosebumps on her exposed flesh.

The spike of killer intent made her blood freeze, the sheer intensity of it weighing down on her like an invisible load. She had never felt something like it before, but she had heard it in stories. Or rumors, to be more precise.

People were superstitious, no matter what age they lived in, so it wasn't surprising to hear tales of folklore and supernatural beasts surfacing every once in a while. However, select huntress' and hunters knew that some still existed. Beowolves were said to be descendants of werewolves, or variations of the creatures, the theory first emerging when it was recorded that the Grimm were as powerful as any ancient deathstalker or King Taijutsu during the full moon.

Of course, most of it was labeled as a pile of bullshit made up by people who wanted to make a quick buck by selling 'charms' or 'potions' to naïve citizens. But those who labelled were people who were blissfully ignorant of the ugliness that was. The underworld of greed, lust, money and death was nothing but something they read about; or didn't even know.

However, Cinder and Neo were not one of those people.

Money and fear could go a long way, after all.

They watched in horror and fascination as the dark figure swooped down unto the mechanical girl. They blinked. Her body had been sliced into half. Bright green eyes remained opened wide as her metal head sank into the soil, the knees of the halved body collapsing upon themselves into a heap on the floor.

The figure was dressed in pitch black, save for the crimson red hood fluttering the wind. The stench of death and despair became stronger as the hood fell back, revealing the mysterious stranger. Black hair tipped with red uncurled from their previous position, parts of it slicked back to reveal a pale face with the skin of alabaster and silver eyes.

The girl moved.

In an instant, she was on her knees in front of the stiff body of the general. Not caring that she had a spectator, the mysterious girl lunged forward and sank her teeth into the man's exposed neck. There was a gurgle as blood bubbled in his mouth, head lolled back as the life in his eyes slowly leaked away when his lifeblood was slowly drained away.

Both Neo and Cinder trembled in pure fear as the girl let her head fall back, gazing at them with a wicked smirk.

Blood trickled down her mouth, but she paid no heed to it. Somewhere in the back of their minds, it registered that the girl's smirk revealed her two sharp canines, or more precisely, fangs.

"Cinder Fall…" Her voice sounded akin to a tempting songstress and a deadly predator, smooth like melted butter but as dangerous as arsenic. "I have a proposition for you."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: Changed the rating from T to M for planned future violence and/or sexual situations. :3

* * *

With his back to the ground, Roman wheezed painfully as he stared up at the sticky black mass of the night sky. His trademark bowler hat lay beside his foot (which one? He wondered) burnt to a dark crisp. His jacket was in shreds, no longer white as his blood slowly stained the previously pristine material.

He swallowed roughly, "Why you–" his words were cut off when he let out a grunt of pain as the wooden stake sank deeper into his thigh. Roman imagined it emerging from the other side and shuddered. Ruby's silver eyes twinkled with amusement, her lips quirked slightly as she applied more pressure onto the stake, relishing when he let out a pained yelp. "Honestly." She said. "I want to thank you for making my night, Torchwick. It's not every day that someone in this day and age tries to stab me in the chest with such a barbaric object." The sentence was punctuated by a small chuckle.

She twirled the second wooden stake in her hands, the very first one he had tried to stab her from behind with, eyeing it with morbid curiosity. The craftsman ship was impeccable; she observed and ran her fingers over the grainy surface. She could also smell holy water emanating from it…what paranoia, Ruby thought to herself. Whoever made this was either extremely thorough or just one of those silly nutjobs who thought throwing a stalk of garlic at her would harm her in some way.

'_Humans…' _She rolled her eyes. _'Time has done nothing but weaken them.'_

Ruby threw a glance towards Cinder, who was watching the entire scene impassively. Unfortunately, the vampire could detect a hint of _fear _behind those burning ember eyes. She had to commend the woman on having such control. A normal person would have turned tail and ran at this point. "Well?" She called out playfully, easing the pressure off the stake. Roman let himself have a second of reprieve, the perpetual burning in his leg ebbing away. "What is your answer, Miss Fall? Do you need another…_demonstration_?"

Faster than an eye could blink, Ruby pierced Roman's palm with the pointed edge of the stake, effectively pining him to the ground. A shriek of pain and shock filled the air, and she laughed merrily, swaying her fingers to the sound of his cries.

The remaining white fang members shivered and took a step back. Some had even gone as far as to clamp their sweaty hands over their necks, shooting fearful looks at the monster before them.

Cinder forced down the stutter which threatened to break the smooth flow of her words, and kept her eyes leveled to the vam– girl's face as she spoke. "Unnecessary. You have proved your point well enough." She said and tilted her head to the side, black curls pooling at her shoulder, "If you kill him, my plans will be ruined so please refrain from causing any more crippling wounds." She finished dryly. Roman shot her a desperate look as he began losing all feeling in the lower half of his body, the soil underneath an ugly mesh of red and brown.

"Fair enough." Ruby said before leaning down and ripping the stakes right out of his wounds. Neo winced when she saw her 'partner' gasp for air after another round of screaming, but there was no denying that undercurrent of fascination and sudden wetness between her legs as she watched the sultry predator lick the droplets of blood from the sharp end of the stake, smirking at her after she did so. The tri-coloured woman quickly turned away, her senses practically screaming '_danger_!' when she spotted the fangs gleaming under the faint moonlight.

Cinder nodded and turned to address her subordinates. "The battle is over. Ironwood is dead. The military will be arriving in a few minutes, so get ready to move back to our base of operations. And at the request of our…guest, all survivors are to be brought back with us."

'_Even the robot?' _Neo signed. '_Or what's left of her anyway.' _

"Obviously." Cinder replied as she watched the White Fang bullhead approaching from a distance. "But leave Ironwood as he is. It'll prove a pleasant surprise for the Atlus military to clean up what's _left_ of their failure."

Several sniggers broke the silence.

And then the moment of camaraderie was broken, the white fang members splitting up and efficiently carrying out their orders. To her amusement, Ruby noticed that everyone had given her a wide berth and were 'casually' throwing fearful looks over their shoulders and having a tight grip on their respective weapons. Ignoring the small fry, her gaze drifted over to Cinder and she grinned. Appreciation of the female form had always been one of her more pleasurable past times and Ruby would had have to be blind to ignore the sensual way the flaming empress's hips swung as she made her way towards the now landing aerial vehicle.

Turning her attention away from the leader, her eyes landed on the much shorter woman. '_Neo.' _Ruby recalled Cinder addressing the smaller girl, '_How fitting. An illusionist with a very specific…tastes. Now, this is going to be __**fun**__.'_

The walking bloodbags began shuffling into the open back of the bullhorn. She watched as the Faunus members kicked the remaining survivors into the cargo area, some of them laughing while they shoved them into a largish cage with bars, and locking the door.

It was almost pathetic to see the Fauni hurling abuse at the prisoners, Ruby observed with disdain and a shake of her head, having their spirits lifted at such an awful display of make believe and possible revenge of having being treated like such before their time in the white fang.

"Really…to see how far humanity has come."

A pregnant pause.

She felt her insides bubble with laughter.

"It just makes my goal all the more easier to accomplish."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Well I didn't expect this story to be this well recieved! Thank you to all the reviewers who took the time to leave a review on this somewhat weird story and a bug hug also to the readers who sift through this...whatever this is! And by the way **rwbybomb21 **is back so yeah, more insane ruby please! I'm sorry if i don't reply to any reviews, its exam period and yeah. I'm stressed out and this close to drowning in my tears.

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"This plan is fucking insane." Roman wheezed from his padded chair. Gently clutching at his bandaged hand, the man shivered when another gush of cold air swept through him. He fought to keep from glaring at Cinder, but the way the smug bitch just sat there…legs crossed and eyes glinting with amusement as she observed him…it grated on his already short nerves. "This is never going to work. That _vamp_–" He spat the word in distaste, "Probably wouldn't last a minute in Beacon surrounded by walking those blood bags."

Cinder tsked at her subordinate's behaviour and leaned back into her chair.

"Why Roman," She purred, "I'm sure that you're not giving Miss Ruby enough credit. After all, she _did_ restrain herself from killing you. And she demonstrated such superb control over her thirsts when your throat was just meters away from her face."

The gentleman thief paled at the reminder, tightening his grip to force down the shivers that threatened to rack his body. "You know what?" He said. "Just go ahead. But don't try to blame me if this plan of yours backfires. Because I for one, think that we can't trust that blood sucker."

Cinder laughed, suddenly pushing her chair backwards to stand up. The screech of the metal legs surprised Roman, and he jumped slightly at the harsh sound. Damn, he'd wanted to get rid of that rusty old chair for _ages_ and now, he regretted not doing it sooner. "Don't worry Roman." She mocked as she slowly sauntered towards the room's exit. "The plan barely concerns you. The only thing you need to do, is steal dust. Loads of it. You don't need to think. Just _obey_."

The door slammed shut, the sound ringing in Roman's ears.

* * *

Somewhere on the White Fang base, Emerald and Mercury winced as they heard another round of fresh screams erupt in the direction of the prisoner's cells. The silver haired man shot his partner a foul look, and shakily picked up his third glass of vodka. "Stop drinking before you finish our stash, moron." She said. Regarding him with barely veiled annoyance, her eyes flitted back to her scroll as she went through the Vale morning news. Grinning at the picture of Ironwood's corpse that was flashed momentarily, she was distracted when Mercury clumsily shifted his weight on the chair, knocking over some bags of chips in the process.

"I've never listened to you, so why should I start now?" He said and shrugged. Downing the glass in one large gulp, he reached for the half empty bottle and growled when it was snatched away from him. "Goddammit!"

"Oh boo hoo." Emerald snapped. "Stop acting like a hobo, Mercury. So what if we agreed to work with a vampire? Cinder knows what she's doing. We're not gonna die or anything, so suck it up will you?"

"Hah!" The man let out a short bark of laughter and rolled his eyes. "That woman's more of a psycho than the blood thirsty _thing_ back there." He grunted. "But hey, don't mind me! Just keep on kissing Cinder's ass until your lips fall off."

Mercury reeled back in pain when the bottle hit him straight in the chest. Groaning in pain, he didn't see Emerald lift her foot to kick the legs of his chair. Hard. His already blurry vision began to spin wildly and he fell to the floor with a loud thump. Emerald snorted when the annoying bastard cursed her weakly but ignored his half-drunk ramblings of gutting her like a fish. His words were as menacing as the soldiers she had disposed of that night.

Seeing as he wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, Emerald decided to check on the prisoners. The screams had been going on and off for the better part of the hour, and even the White Fang members upped and left the break room when a particularly nasty wail shook the walls of the hideout. That Ruby girl definitely wasn't just 'feeding' back there.

The hallway leading to the cells were eerie, and she spotted some left over evidence of a struggle. Or struggles. Shivering when goosebumps appeared on her skin, Emerald swiftly plodded through the empty space and swung the small non-descript door leading to the underground prison. The white fang base looked small from the outside, but in actuality, most of their base were hidden underground. It was clear that they were confident that they wouldn't be discovered though, since they'd never moved the hideout even after the change of command.

Emerald swung the door open, wincing in annoyance when the hinges creaked noisily. "Stupid rusty things." She cursed, slamming it shut and descending down the short staircase. "Hey! Would you keep it down back there!" Emerald barked as she entered the small cramped space. She opened her mouth to shout again, but the words died in her throat. Her stomach bottomed out, the sick feeling only growing when Ruby turned to her with a blood-curdling smile.

"Oh? I apologize, I didn't think that we were causing that much of a ruckus." She said demurely, acting as if she wasn't holding a severed hand. Turning to look at her fifth victim, she chuckled as he choked, the blood frothing from his throat. His eyes were dull with pain, his body barely even twitching. The only thing that gave away whether he was alive or not, was the fact that his chest was rising and falling rapidly. "Oh hush, you noisy thing." Ruby shushed the man playfully when he gasped for breath. In a movement so swift, the girl had pushed her fingers almost completely into the man's chest.

His body jerked, like something akin to a puppet on strings, before falling completely still. In her hand, Ruby idly observed the lump of dark red meat, still pulsing in her hand. From where she stood, Emerald could almost hear the faint thumping of the heart, and for a split second, imagined it to be hers.

Knees giving out from under her, she fell to the dirty floor, trembling. Placing the heart down, with a stack of several other hearts of different sizes, Ruby turned to regard Emerald with curiosity. She could smell the pure _fear_ radiating off the young woman, but she clicked her teeth in disappointment when there was nothing _else_ there but fear. "Well? I don't suppose you're here to give me a hand are you?" She said.

Crimson eyes regarded the shaking form with nothing but boredom.

"W-What, What the fuck are y-you doing?" Emerald's voice quavered, making Ruby roll her eyes. Pathetic. Well, she couldn't expect every human she came across to be an interesting as Neo or Cinder after all. Though, she had expected better of her henchmen. Certainly, better than this shaking sack of flesh.

"You mean this?" She said and gestured to the pile of corpses. Some were drained dry of their life fluid, while others were missing limbs and certain…body parts. Huddled at the corner of the room, two men laid passed out in their own piss, which were one of the reasons why Ruby hadn't laid a fang on them. Even she had standards, thank you very much. "Haven't you heard the term 'playing with your food'? I thought that it would be the very first thing to come to mind."

Ruby said it so casually, licking several stray droplets of blood which trickled down the side of her cheek. Tearing of limbs really did have a nice splatter radius.

"This is disgusting!" Emerald turned away to regain her breath. Her stomach was still turning after seeing all _that_, and she just thanked god she didn't drink any of the vodka upstairs. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"That is a surprisingly idiotic question." Ruby answered in irritation. "We all enjoy our meals differently, no? I think you could hardly fault me on this aspect." She punctuated the sentence by plunging her fangs into the man's throat, moaning lowly at the sweet rush of liquid suddenly trickling down her throat. The burn was something similar to that of alcohol, but it was a million times more pleasurable and _intense_ than just mere distilled yeast.

"Oh my god–!"

Emerald felt bile rise in her throat and raced back up the steps, eager to get away from this…_monster_. She was already regretting the decision to check on the goddamn vampire, and hell would sooner freeze over if she would willingly do so again. That horrible scene was burned into her eyelids, and she swore lowly to herself as she entered the room. Mercury was still on the ground, but out cold. Picking up the bottle of vodka which had somehow rolled to the wall, Emerald took a large swig of the foul smelling stuff and sat down, the liquid trailing a blazing path down her throat.

* * *

Ruby grinned wolfishly when she heard the green haired girl fall into a drunken stupor. Honestly, humans were so predictable sometimes. Always running away. Just running, running, running. Forgetting that once they stopped to catch their breath, the monster would be upon them; and they would be nothing but a mess of regret and blood.

"Shame." Ruby murmured as she slowly began to peel away the thin layer of muscle wrapped around the now still heart. Black blood dripped as she unwound the flesh, ripping of layer after layer. And what was left in the center of it all was…

Nothing.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: ** Somewhat of a masturbation scene up ahead. Probably the weirdest thing I have written. And lookie here! An update! A big thank you and hug to everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed! I don't always reply to reviews, but just know that I'm thankful for your support! Not only on this story but on my other ones too :D And also, we get to see a little of Ruby's own moral code. Let me know what you think of this chapter. Enjoy!

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Around two weeks had passed since the arrival of their 'guest'. The members of the white fang had grown slightly more accustomed to her presence. Many of them no longer exited the room when she'd entered, now choosing to peer at her warily. The staring lasted for some time until she grew annoyed and retrieved a fresh pack of blood from the fridge to make a show of drinking from it. Messily. The puke stains weren't coming out of the floors anytime soon.

Roman didn't leave his room often, still recovering from the injuries inflicted by their resident vampire. He would start shaking like a leaf whenever she came within arm's distance of him (something she loved to do) and sprint all the way back to his room. Cinder was busy with the next stages of her plan, now having to include Ruby in several other missions as well. The flaming empress was left well alone by Emerald and Mercury, the two knowing not to disturb her when she was busy. They were much jumpier than usual though, alternating between sleeping the day away and leaving the white fang hideout at night.

Neo was…undecided. Her first meeting with Ruby had been a rather harsh experience and the girl- (Woman? Monster? Killer? _Vampire_?) seemed to have taken a liking to her. The ice cream themed girl had been receiving odd gifts throughout the two weeks. Her first reaction to this was fear and suspicion. But when she'd finally realised that Ruby wasn't going to maim her in the middle of the night, she finally decided to 'open' one of her presents.

Decked out in her usual outfit, Neapolitan kicked her feet up and let her legs rest on the surface of her dresser, brows furrowed in contemplation. Ruby had forwarded a file to her scroll, titled '_Hello'_ for some odd reason. She glanced at the vase full of roses on her dresser. For a blood sucking maniac, the vampire could be quite charming when she wanted to be.

The scroll in her hands beeped noisily. She felt her lips quirk up in a small smirk when the video flickered to life, an annoyed face appearing on screen.

"_Is this thing on?" _

Ruby prodded the camera, looking thoroughly annoyed by the contraption. After a few more moments of adjusting and shifting the recorder to get a better angle, Ruby stepped back with a triumphant grin on her face, fangs poking out from her upper lip.

"_Miss Neo." _She crooned. _"I am sure that you must be feeling confused or maybe even surprised. But let me explain. You are a very peculiar woman. I know how you reacted to me on the night we'd first met, and I admit that you really do intrigue me so. Not everyone enjoys basking in the presence of death. " _

Two chairs were dragged into view, and bound to them were two equally terrified soldiers. From their bloodshot eyes, ruffled appearance and the dried blood stains on their uniforms, Neo concluded that they were probably the from Ironwood's squadron. The white fang had no shortage of prisoners like soldiers or police officers due to their increasing frequency of dust robberies, but she was still able to identify the men easily.

They had a deeply fearful look in their eyes. She could guess where it had stemmed from.

"_This is a gift to you. I hope you watch this to the end, to indulge me if nothing else. Please enjoy it as much as I'm going to." _Ruby grinned. _"Now boys, say hi to the camera! What's wrong? You're looking awfully shaky there."_ Ruby threw her arms around them, smiling when they'd flinched at the icy cold touch. _"Now now. Don't be afraid. Here, I'll introduce you." _

Ruby straightened, and placed her hand on the shoulder of the guy to the right. The man shivered, snot running down his nose as he blubbered noisily. Neo snorted, mentally wishing that he was dead already.

"_Neo, this is Victor. His last name escapes me, but that's not important right now. Victor here has a bit of a loose tongue." _The vampire chuckled darkly, leaning down and pressing her face against his. _"You should have heard the secrets he'd told. Oh the names that he'd spilled. Tell me Victor, how do you think the general would have reacted if he were been here? I suppose that the general trusted you with his life, since you were one of his most esteemed officers."_

Neo moved the scroll closer to her face, intrigued.

"_I believe that the Atlus military had tradition of sorts, in regards to how they treated traitors." _ On screen, Ruby tapped her chin thoughtfully, pursing her lips in contemplation. Finally, she snapped her fingers and laughed.

"_I remember now!" _She said. Standing up once more, she let her fingers move along the curve of his lip, the edges of his mouth quivering at the touch. _"It's one of the few military traditions that I actually support, actually. Brutal yet effective. I've yet to come across any survivors who tattle." _Gently, she slipped her fingers into his mouth, the man too fearful to do anything but comply with her actions.

Ruby looked at the camera, blood red eyes shining gleefully under the dim lights.

"_Here, Neo. I'll show you what I mean." _

With a short bark of laughter, Ruby ripped his tongue out.

She held the twitching organ in her hands, enjoying the wordless screams of her victim who was thrashing about in his chair. Stray droplets of blood splattered onto the camera, obscuring the view. The force in which she executed the action must have been tremendous.

Despite the commotion, Neo could see that the soldier in the seat left seat was in a state of shock; not registering any sort of movement, merely staring at the wall with a dead look in his eyes. She let herself smile a little. This was the best thing she'd seen in months. After getting tangled up in Cinder's plans, she didn't have any more time to indulge in such activities. Neo sighed. A hobby was a hobby, and torturing was one of hers. It looked like she and the vampire shared some similar interests.

Ruby's voice was suddenly heard again, and she quickly brought her attention back to the screen.

There was a slight streak of blood across the screen. Ruby had probably tried to wipe it off the camera. Obviously, she didn't do a good job of it. Neo scowled, but resigned herself to pointedly ignoring that thin red line.

"_Well…That was certainly quick." _

Ruby sighed, shaking Victor's corpse lightly. It moved with each shake, looking more like a fake, rubber doll. His mouth was frozen in a scream, eyes staring up at the ceiling in a look of agony. She shrugged, tossing the tongue aside.

"_The blood loss was much faster than what I anticipated. Oh well, we learn something new every day." _She glanced at the screen before pulling the corpse out of the camera view.

When she returned, the vampire turned her attention back to the remaining soldier in the room.

"_Alright, now it's your turn. Say hi to the camera, Grant!" _

Neo watched as the man named Grant stared at the camera wordlessly, and felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle. Ah…she really hated rebellious ones like these. They took the fun out of the game, and usually ended up offing themselves when they got the chance. Neo wondered how Ruby would deal with this. The vampire didn't seem perturbed by his reaction, possibly already predicting it. She was quite curious as to how the other was going to break him.

"_Don't be such a spoilsport. Have some manners, Grant." _Ruby huffed, looking slightly pleased when he grunted. She turned back to the camera. _"Right, back to the introductions. Neo, this is Grant. So apparently, the resident tattle tale-" _Ruby's eyes shifted to the spot where Victor previously occupied. _"Had something interesting to say about him. Isn't that right?" _

The man said nothing, but the sudden stiffness in his posture gave everything away. It looked like he wasn't as tough as he'd liked to be.

"_He told me all about your family. One wife and two kids. Must have been a pretty boring life, huh?" _Ruby purred into his ear, one hand stroking his broad chest. _"No wonder you cheated on your poor ch__é__ri. Must've been disappointing, right? That she didn't fuck you as wildly as she used to. Not a moment's peace around the house with all those kids running around, calling your name. Every time you went home, there were things to be done, chores to do, and your wife must have been nagging at you quite a lot." _

Grant finally spoke, his voice coming out in a rasp. _"Damn straight…" _He looked up at the camera with glazed eyes, the calm and seductive lull of Ruby's voice like music to his mortal ears.

"_She didn't want to touch me at all. Not my fault I went out and got a newer, sexier bitch." _

Neo rolled her eyes.

"_Did you? I recall Victor telling me differently though. He said that you didn't like hookers. Too much for too little. Maybe he was a traitor __**and**__ a liar." _

"_The idiot was right...'m too good for those dirty whores." _He mumbled.

Ruby smirked and slowly circled the chair, continuing her ministrations, beginning to run her hands up and down his chest. Neo could see that he was getting flustered, though the bleary look in his eyes didn't disappear.

"_It's easy to find some pretty dames if you know how. If you're lucky, you'll catch em' drunk near some shitty club in the boons." _

"_You mean you paid them to fuck you? How's that any different from a prostitute?" _

"_Don't need to. All you gotta do is just rough em' up a little, you know? A punch here, a kick there. Lovely tongues, they have. My wife has nothing on them, the useless woman." _

Ruby stopped in front of him and threw one leg over his waist. The chair creaked under the extra weight. Grant groaned at the sudden pressure on his crotch, his sensitive genitals reacting to the firm press of the vampire's thighs. Neo scowled when Ruby straddled him, her back to the camera, the fluttering of her red cape blocking out whatever was happening. Their voices could still be heard clearly, and a peeved Neo strained her ears to listen.

"_Say, you're pretty big for such a small guy." _She crooned. She exerted a bit more force, grinding into him. The man let out a moan, shifting in his seats and pulling against his binds. _"A feisty one, aren't you? Up already?" _

Ruby teased, pushing herself off him. The ice cream themed villain let herself sigh happily when the vampire stood up and went behind the soldier, pushing the seat closer to the camera. She was getting frustrated at not being able to see anything. There was a visible bulge in his military trousers, and Neo watched with excitement bubbling in her stomach when Ruby smiled at the camera before turning back to face him. She stood at his side, towering over his form.

Grant groaned. _"H-Hey…do you think you could?" _

"_Shhh. Let me handle it." _ Ruby put her hand over the bulge, holding it loosely. She moved her hands up and down a little, but it looked as if she wasn't even trying. The man let out a frustrated noise, glaring at her.

"_Harder…" _He whined, bucking into her touch. He couldn't think about anything, that it was a vampire who was about to get him off, or the fact that said vampire had killed his teammate not long before. A thick fog had settled over his mind, and there was a delightful warmth coiling in his belly. _"Harder!" _

Ruby laughed and tightened the grip on his member. Neo could imagine her stroking him, slender fingers wrapping themselves around his cock. Speaking of which, she hadn't done the deed in a _long_ time. Maybe a little self-love was due. A sharp moan drove the thought back into her mind, but Neo promised herself that she would act on it later.

"_Just a little more…_" Grant's voice trailed off, and he keened loudly when her grip tightened again. _"T-That's awesome…now move your hand." _He pleaded, trying to thrust himself upwards in an effort to get her to start pumping him. Maybe if he played his cards right, the sexy gal would even give him a fellatio.

Neo nearly choked on her spit when Ruby squeezed his dick even harder, making him yelp in pain. Her eyes widened. She really was unpredictable. The criminal felt sorry for the man already. He obviously didn't know what was coming (definitely not him at least).

"_H-Hey, watch it! Not that hard!" _

He yelped again when she ignored him, her grip becoming even tighter. Grant wanted to yell at her, but his next words came out as a scream of pain instead, when Ruby crushed his member in her hands. Shockwave after shockwave of pain rattled his entire being, and he was helpless to do anything but scream and spasm in the binds of the chair when the vampire stood up and casually delivered a swift kick to his crotch.

Neo swallowed, her breaths coming out in short bursts when she saw him weep freely, a small pool of blood forming at the legs of the chair. A bright splotch of red was starting to seep through the material of his trousers, making the criminal wet her lips. His pain was _glorious_ to witness, and she'd been given a first class seat to the show.

In the video, Ruby stared down at him, disdain written clearly on her face.

"_I don't even want your blood, you disgusting sack of shit." _She hissed. _"Say hi to the devil for me."_

Neo grinned ecastically as Ruby picked up the device, smirking into the camera. Crimson eyes glinted cruelly and the satisfied look on her face said more than words ever could. Grant was still screaming in the background, and honestly, it was a deliciously sweet sound.

"_Come find me when you ready, Neo. I'll be waiting." _Ruby smiled and reached forward.

The video ended with a soft click, leaving Neo staring wordlessly into the silence.

* * *

"What do you mean you refuse?" Cinder hissed, glowering at her fiercely.

Ruby remained undisturbed by her fury, merely crossing her arms.

"What else could I mean? Infiltrating Beacon is out of the question. I'm not sure you realize this, but if I were able to do such a thing I would have killed off the target without needing your help." She said, her lip curling up in frustration. Running a pale hand through her crimson tipped hair, the vampire regarded the other woman with a mirthless stare.

Cinder faltered, but refused to back down. "What do you mean by that? Explain."

"I'm surprised. I had initially thought that you were well informed. Apparently, I was wrong." Ruby sneered at her. "Ozpin has a barrier of sorts around the academy. It is created by concentrating aura into a special generator that amplifies it, creating an invisible barrier around the academy. This barrier is impervious to Grimm, since it only allows beings capable of generating auras to pass through."

"And where exactly do they get this aura?" She asked. "It's impossible for to collect such a large amount of aura capable of powering it. The students can't possibly be giving out freely, the authorities wouldn't allow such a thing."

"Correct. That supply comes from staff working at Beacon, or more specifically, the professors. The machine doesn't just consume the aura continuously. That would be too troublesome and ultimately, ineffective. They have a rotation, two professors' will supply it with enough power to last for the first twelve hours, and then another pair take their place when that time is up. This ensures that they won't suffer from aura deprivation, a state in which they are vulnerable."

"So you're telling me that you are practically useless?" Cinder growled, her eyes lighting aflame, "And here I thought that a vampire was peerless. To think that a device intended to go against the Grimm would work against _you_?" Her laugh was sharp and cold. "How utterly pathetic."

"Hold your tongue, _Cinder_." Ruby replied, her voice deceptively calm. "You may be powerful, but in the end, your strength pales against my own. Do not mistake my compliance as permission to speak against me. It would be easy for me to kill you, but count yourself fortunate that you seem to be the only human who wishes to uproot the current hierarchy."

Ruby slammed her palm on the table, a cobweb of cracks appearing under her hands. The sound of impact was as shocking as a gunshot, and it was enough to make Cinder go silent.

"That's a good girl."

The vampire made a small 'tsk' sound.

"Make do with this information as you will. Don't make light of me, I have my own set of plans to be carried out. I do not go back on my promises. Ozpin _will_ die at my hands. I do not hunger for power like humans such as yourself. I am merely contend to sit back and watch everything unfold. Be rest assured Cinder, that Beacon will fall."

Ruby's figure became a blur, disappearing right in front of her eyes. The flaming empress tilted her head upwards to meet a cold gaze boring into her own. The gaze promised everything Cinder had asked for. A mixture of fear and trepidation swam in her chest, but to her credit, the woman only flinched at the sudden appearance of Ruby at her side.

"Beacon will fall." Cinder echoed her previous words, her voice resembling that of steel. Harsh, unflinching, determined. "Vale will be next."

Ruby took hold of one slender hand, bringing it to her mouth. In one smooth motion, she pressed a light kiss on the back of it, watching as a faint blush coloured Cinder's cheeks.

"And in time…all of Remnant."


	5. Chapter 5

Ruby felt her mind drift off, the boredom finally pricking at her. It had been so long since she'd let herself just...relax. Between the blood drinking and the disposal of prisoners, there was little else to do until the plan was executed. With a pleasant shroud falling over her, Ruby was mildly shocked to feel a distant memory of the past resurface. But she didn't fight it, letting a wave of nostalgia wash over her.

"_Get the stable girl!" roared the bearded man. _

_A handful of stable hands tripped over themselves to get away from him, speeding off to find their friend. Those who remained behind went back to their duties, pointedly avoiding the disdainful gaze that swept across their turned backs. _

_A few minutes later, the ones who sped away had come back; but with a girl in tow. Dressed in baggy overall and a dull red cap, the only girl amongst the group of boys stepped forward, her lithe frame trembling slightly. _

"_You were looking fer me, sir?" She spoke softly and wrung her hands together. _

_The man snorted, and cuffed her neck. The stable boys flinched when she yelped in pain. _

"_How many times must I tell you to take care of the missus's horse, properly? Madam was furious to find a mud stain on its thigh." Said the man, his eyes narrowing. "She threatened to let you go but unfortunately, the lord was kind enough to pardon you." _

"_m' sorry…will clean better next time." She replied, cowed by the ferocity in his tone. _

_The man sniffed, shaking his head in dissatisfaction. "One more time, red, and it'll be off with the mines with you, I hear that they've been wanting more help since the last batch got killed by the dust explosion. Take care not to waste this chance, you brat." _

_He turned to look at the rest of the dispassionate stable hands. Some cowered under his piercing gaze but others stared back with equal intensity. The man scowled, pointing at the tallest one who was leaning against a bale of hay. _

"_Make sure she doesn't make the same mistake, boy! Or it'll be your head next!"_

_With his job done, he shot one last glare at the girl and headed back toward the castle. When the figure disappeared out of sight, everyone gave a collective sigh of relief. Mumbling to themselves, the stable hands eventually split up to return to their work. _

_The girl shuffled nervously in her overalls, not daring to look at the tall stoic figure who was now walking towards her. He raised her hand, making her flinch. But to her immense relief, he placed his hand on her shoulder instead. Towering several inches above her, her brother sighed. The corner of his eyes crinkled as he gazed at his sister. Silver met silver, and she gave him a lopsided smile. He shook his head._

"_What am I going to do with you?" _

_._

_._

The scent of expensive perfume.

Footsteps.

Ruby's eyelids flew open.

Startled, Neo took a few steps back, eyeing the vampire warily. She held her parasol against her chest, ready to defend against any sudden attack. She had only taken one or two steps into the room when Ruby's head whipped in her direction so fast it could've broken her neck. Ruby blinked several times, a look of confusion settling on her pale features. Neo grimaced. She was slightly terrified to think of what would happen, had the vampire been in a less...accommodating mood.

Ruby drank in the sight of the tri-coloured woman, feeling her eyes widen and her mouth water. Her mouth curved upwards into something of a genuine smile as she continued drinking in the sight of the strange human with mismatched eyes. It was notable that the criminal did not cower in her presence, and Ruby was even slightly amused to smell a peculiar, sweet scent that vastly overrode the musty smell of dust lingering in the room.

'_Sorry to disturb you_.' Signed Neo. '_I came to see if your offer was still open._'

The sentence was punctuated by a slight grin when she fished out her scroll, flashing it and then slipping it back into her pocket.

"It's no problem at all." Ruby said as she stretched, her bare shoulders looking absolutely sinful. "I apologize, it looks like the decline in prisoners has made me slightly anaemic." Ruby laughed and tucked her hand under her chin.

The hint of her purr in her voice made the vampire all the more seductive, and if Ruby hadn't been a monstrous, blood thirsty psychopath, Neo would have probably bedded her at this point. But for now, she was just going to test the waters, and hopefully, not trigger any landmines that would lead to her skin being used as a decorative carpet. An amused sparkle appeared in blood red eyes as Ruby watched the human relax into a more neutral stance. It didn't escape her attention that the parasol still remained tight in her grasp.

There was a strange urge to rip both of Neo's arms off to see how she would fight without them, but it would be counterproductive to destroy the progress she made with her. Ruby sighed. The arm ripping would have to be tested on someone else then. Preferably the cute lizard Faunus she'd seen around the hideout. It would be mystifying to see if their arms could grow back like their lesser counterparts.

As the vampire pushed herself up into a sitting position, the criminal took that moment to satiate her sudden spark of curiosity. '_I wasn't aware that vampires could sleep.' _She signed.

Ruby shrugged. "Oh we can. It's just that we choose not to. I do tend to indulge in such activities on occasion, but it does not affect me in a positive or a negative way. It is merely something I do to pass the time."

Neo paused. '_Do vampires dream?' _

"You're just a regular Sherlock aren't you? Didn't you know that curiosity killed the cat?" Said Ruby. Her mouth thinned, a universal sign that the criminal knew meant that she'd stepped on a nerve. She tried not to show the fear that had begun to freeze the blood in her veins, and adopted a bored expression. Neo then balked when she remembered that Ruby could hear her heartbeat.

Silence fell over the two.

The vampire grinned when she heard her heartbeat spike, the soft '_badump' _rising in pitch. Ignoring Neo's faux pass, she leaned back into the soft cushion of the chair. The White fang higher ups were nice enough to dip into their funds to send her some gifts. The boot licking was unnecessary, but she found it funny that they thought such materialistic gifts would satisfy her.

Ruby let her fingers stroke the soft velvet of the hand rest. She rather liked this sofa though. It looked like the faunus were on to something after all.

'_Don't bother answering that. I'm sorry I even asked.' _Neo signed quickly, making sure to emphasize the 'sorry' part. She did _not_ want to die without retiring to a swanky mansion first. Curse her decision making skills. Her split second decisions usually saved her by the skin of her teeth, but this was the first time that they threw her under the bus like this.

"I do not know whether you realize this, but you're _extremely_ lucky to be such an interesting specimen. Ironically, your passion for blood-lust prevents me from snapping your neck. Lesser beings would have had their innards torn out and limbs cut off had they asked me such a thing." Ruby said, running a hand through her hair. "And to answer your question, no, we do not dream. Monsters aren't allowed such a luxury."

Neo her brows raising but held her questions back. Cheating death once was already enough. Sighing soundlessly, she opted for the safer, and less thorny route of questioning.

'_So. What exactly are we going to do? And before you ask, I'm not part of Cinder's 'grand' plan. Roman and I have specific orders to assist the White Fang with their shit.' _

"What a coincidence. So am I." Ruby grinned when she saw a pair of eyebrows rise, and shushed her.

"Have you forgotten that I was the one who propositioned her? Indeed, Cinder and I have a common goal in mind but that does not mean she has power over me. The tasks she needs done are of a more…distasteful variety, so I've persuaded her to let me do some of them my way. I've already rejected the ones which I found were unsuitable."

Neo held back a giggle. It looked like even Cinder was under the thumb of the vampire. She wished she could have seen the cocky semblance user being submissive toward Ruby. That would have made for a good memory. '_In that case, I'm guessing that you don't need my help? You know, since you're an all powerful being and all?' _She signed.

This made Ruby smile, and she let her heated gaze settle on Neo. "Oh, but I digress." purred the sensual predator as she stood from her seat and crept closer to Neo, the criminal visibly shuddering at the weight behind her gaze. The deafening thump of her heart was delightful, and it almost made Ruby seize her. But she pushed down her urges and leveled Neo with a disturbing smirk.

"Tell me…what do you know about torture?"


	6. Chapter 6

The smell of oil was sharp. It muffled and drowned out all other smells but Ruby remained unaffected by it. The slight crease in her brow was the only sign of frustration and it melted away as quickly as it was formed. With steady hands, she soldered the part back into place, barely even registering the bright sparks of heat nipping at her fingers.

"How wonderful." She purred. She placed the blowtorch back in its rightful place and held up the mechanical hand to eye level. "A chance to start anew. If only we all this lucky."

Smiling wryly at the cruel irony in her sentence, she made sure all the implemented devices were up and running before she booted up the system. It hadn't been an easy feat to replicate his invention, but while Ironwood was a genius of his craft, Ruby had years of knowledge under lock and chain and thus, it had been simple enough to reach his level of skill in less than a fortnight. Licking her lips in anticipation, the vampire took a step back as the synthetic human whirred to life, emerald green eyes flickering into existence.

It- _she _took a step forward, her face an open book of emotions as she examined the world around her for the 'first time'. There was a quiet whirr of fans before Ruby saw it fit to reveal her presence. She stepped out of the shadows, darkness peeling off her figure like the skin of a rotten fruit. The new and improved version of Penny blinked curiously, her databank still in a state of information overload. But despite the complexity of the situation, the ginger android still had enough fluff in her to greet Ruby with a wide smile.

"Salutations!"

The vampire nodded. "A pleasure."

The chirpiness was endearing, and at the same time, so utterly _nauseating_. But still, the vampire had work that needed to be done. Her puppet needed to be trained, and fine-tuned to perfection. And so, with a slight smirk plastered on her face, Ruby welcomed her new pet with a large sweep of her hands, enjoying the way Penny's eyes lit up in naiveté and excitement.

This was going to be fun.

* * *

_5 Months to Vytal Festival_

* * *

Neo watched silently as the robot girl, Penny, obliviated another wave of Atlesian Knights with a playful bout of laughter that sounded freakishly maniacal. The sound of metal against metal was like a Valkyrie cry from one machine to another, the robots in the training grounds advancing on the ginger android. Neo tried to imagine the scene playing out from their point of view; their blinking red cross-hares locked onto Penny like she were the next test dummy for a bunch of disgruntled engineers and scientists.

The tri-coloured criminal looked up when she felt a presence popping into existence behind her, and all but calmly scooped up another portion of ice-cream to shove into her mouth. She set down the glass bowl and signed.

'_I'm starting to think that you're doing this on purpose.' _

Ruby laughed, letting her pale hand rest on the shoulders of the smaller girl. Neo forced down a shiver, completely aware that it was not the chilled treat that elicited such a reaction.

"Even if I am, I don't see anything you can do to stop me." She said teasingly.

'_I guess that's true.' _huffed Neo, '_So are you here to check up on the robot again?' _

"Yes, but not only that. Visiting you is also one of my many priorities of course."

The woman flushed but said nothing. There was no point in rejecting the baseless flattery, not forgetting that the vampire could smell how her body reacted to her presence anyway. As Neo tried to cull her rising heartbeat, Ruby let herself rest the lower half of her body against the back of the chair. She drank in the sight of Penny ripping apart her opponents, steamrolling even the latest robot soldiers that the Atlus military could offer, and found herself beaming with pride.

Seeing the expression on the vampire's face, Neo rolled her eyes and snorted. For all her dramatism and love for unleashing her inner carnal desires, Ruby could have been mistaken for a living, breathing human, had her eyes not been crimson and her teeth not pointed. Neo was well aware that Ruby had the skill to blend into society. No one could survive that long on just luck alone.

The ice creamed themed criminal pulled Ruby's attention back to her by snapping her fingers. Red eyes flitted to her face, amusement shining in them.

'_Why did you fix her? Or is fixing the things you break another one of your many hobbies?'_

"Penny will be useful to me. In addition to her complete and utter loyalty, I'll be able to use her to get into the Atlus military base with ease in order dispose of our next targets." Said Ruby. "Which reminds me, have you looked through the list I gave you?"

Neo nodded, patting the pocket of her pristine white blazer.

'_Those are some really high profile names. But don't most of them stay out in the boonies?'_

"Yes, and that is where the Vytal festival comes into play."

'_Ah. So that's why you need Cinder to bring down that force field surrounding Beacon. But why not just leave it up to the fire empress? Her love sick puppy and Mercury are going to be there too after all.' _

Ruby hummed thoughtfully, her arms curling around Neo's waist, making the woman shiver as the coldness emanating from the arm had begun to seep through the fabric of her clothes.

"I cannot deny that Cinder is one of the most gifted dust users I have ever seen, but revealing herself in that situation would be suicidal. Failure to eliminate one of them would set off the alarms quicker than she could escape. And unfortunately, the headmistress of Beacon is one of the few huntresses that would be able to stop her in her tracks."

Both looked up when the sound of a small explosion ricocheted around the underground training facility. They were amused to see Penny testing out her swords on the Atlesian knights, impaling one of them and using it like a ragdoll to take out the other knights in a series of swings.

Ruby shook her head wryly and cleared her throat.

"As I was saying. Even the most powerful can be destroyed if the weak band together. She realises this. Thus, that is how _I_ come into play. And besides…" She smirked. "I have a few scores to settle with some of them."

'_Ohh_.' Neo snickered, '_Nasty_. _At least you're giving me a slice of that pie.' _

Ruby smiled, releasing her hold on the waist and spinning herself around the chair, stopping in the space between the slightly opened legs. Her smile widened when she saw Neo swallow and placed a hand underneath her chin, tilting her head up. Both their gazes clashed, the mix of intense colours crackling with invisible anticipation.

"It won't be the only thing you're going to receive." Said the vampire, who purposely licked her lips. "But that will come later. Much, much later I'm afraid."

Neo growled, refusing to rise to the bait. She tore her gaze away and stared pointedly at the stain on the floor, the action eliciting a throaty laugh from the fiend in front of her. It was then they became aware of the clunking sounds that were slowly becoming louder and louder. Ruby let her hands fall back to her side and turned around to greet Penny with a charming smile.

"Done already, pet?"

The android beamed, dumping the assortment of metal parts that were in her arms. The mess on the floor made Neo's eyebrow twitch, and she pointed the tip of the parasol at the smiling vampire. The look on her face was enough to convey the message. Ruby nodded in affirmation, and turned her smile to Penny once more.

"Neo appreciates that you were nice enough to show her your collection." She said, making Neo splutter at the sheer audacity of the bloodsucker. She waved her parasol madly but Ruby pretended not to take notice.

The ginger robot let out a laugh of excitement, and turned her exceedingly large eyes on the criminal, much to Neo's chagrin.

"Excellent!" Came the enthusiastic reply. "If I may have your permission, can I present the rest of my newest collection to friend Neo? It is just over there." She pointed to the heap of knights piled atop one another.

"That would be wonderful, pet." Ruby crooned as she tightened the ribbon on Penny's neck. Had the robot been human, she would have surely complained about how tightly the ribbon was cutting into a neck. But she wasn't. So she continued to babble aimlessly, practically bouncing on her heels.

"Fantastic! Please await my return, friend Neo!" Penny chirped.

Neo felt her eye twitch once more. As soon as the crazy robot girl had turned her back on them, she stood from her seat and was about to flee the scene when a hand suddenly encircled her wrist. She looked up in utter shock.

"Where are you going, Neo?" Said Ruby with an absolutely wicked grin. "I believe that it is time for my pets to get to know each other more, hm?"

'_Go to hell.'_

"Oh but, I'm already there."

Neo gnashed her teeth in irritation and chucked the bowl painted with remnants of ice cream directly at her. The item smashed into a thousand smaller pieces, and the grin on Ruby's face was so large that it could have split her cheeks. Just as Neo was contemplating on firing off an illusion just to annoy her, a large tiger Faunus strode into the training area, his bright orange ears flattening against his skull at the sight of Ruby.

Neo cocked her brow and turned to look at Ruby. _'What does he want?'_ She signed curiously.

The vampire just shot her a fanged grin in reply, and stepped toward him. The white fang member flinched under her gaze and tried not to focus on the glint of white under her upper lip.

"Y-Your Bullhead will be ready in a few hours." He reported, his back stiff and his eyes on the floor. "Cinder allowed the use of it, o-on the condition that you bring it back in one piece."

"Reasonable." Ruby nodded. The tiger Faunus inwardly let out a sigh of relief, and quickly gave her a small bow. She smirked as he swiftly took several steps back, and without a second glance, left them to their own devices as he sped out of the room.

Neo stared after him. It looked like rumours of Ruby's bite were not exaggerated in the least. The last time any white fang members were cowed to such an extent, was when Cinder was introduced into the hierarchy. The smell of burnt flesh had staunched the flow of fresh air in the previous hideout for _weeks_. Shaking herself out of the pleasant memories, Neo grimaced when she spotted Penny dragging her so called 'collection' toward them, ignorant of the horrid scream of metal rubbing against the ground. God, she hoped that this babysitting crap would be done over with soon. Ruby had promised her blood, and it was an itch that Neo was dying to scratch.

* * *

**AN**: Mostly filler. The next chapter will be switching between Cinder's pov at Beacon and of course, Ruby finally gets the bullhead to set out on her job. And woo, more followers and favs! Let's not forget the reviews too, it's pleasant to read about what you guys think! Thank you for reading :D and hopefully I'll get up the next chapter soon.


	7. Chapter 7

_Beacon Academy_

* * *

They strode through the entrance with identical masks of detachment. The welcoming representatives greeted them with overly cheerful smiles and a bright 'Welcome to Beacon!' and received small nods in return. Mercury grudging took a pamphlet passed out by one of the teenage dingbats and flipped it open.

"Hey Em, it says here that they're having a school tour." He placed his finger at the icon that resembled a giant exclamation mark, but with a pair of beady eyes and a horizontal 'D' for a mouth. He showed her the picture, smirking madly. "It's perfect! Maybe you can finally find someone who's even bitchier than you. And then you two can be_ besties_."

She rolled her eyes, resisting the urge to punch him on the arm. "Shut up the hell up Merc. This is a mission, not a field trip."

"Relax." He drawled. "It was just a suggestion."

"And an excellent one it is."

They turned to look at Cinder, who was holding a pamphlet of her own. Burning twin embers skimmed through the short paragraphs of text, ignoring their surprised gazes. She flipped the pamphlet shut with a perfectly manicured nail and tossed it into a nearby trashcan.

"It will be a good opportunity to familiarize ourselves with the school grounds without drawing unwanted attention." Said Cinder, who was starting to make her way toward the main building. "Let's go, we don't have all day."

Emerald snapped out of her stunned state when she saw how small Cinder's back had become as the woman walked further and further away from her.

"Come on." She threw a scathing glare at her partner. "You heard her. Let's go."

"Whatever Em. Don't take it out on me just because she thinks it's a good idea."

Mercury shrugged, pushing past her with a grunt as he continued in their game of 'follow the leader.' Emerald stood silent for several moments before letting out a soft growl of frustration, and jogged to catch up to him.

They followed a series of small signs that lead to one corner of the large hall, where small groups of students had gathered and were holding up small signs. A make-shift booth jutted out from the wall, its surrounding area swarming with more students. Cinder noted that the groups were mostly made up of four people, and from the wide-eyed looks on their faces as they stared at the steady stream of people pouring through the doors, she easily concluded that they were first years.

Mercury made a face as they neared the booth for the school tour. "Jeez, these are the future faces of hunters and huntresses?" He snorted. "We sure got our work cut out for us." Emerald couldn't help but nod, scanning the crowd for any high profile students. She felt her eyebrows rise when she spotted a girl with piercing white hair and stepped closer to Cinder.

"That girl. Isn't that Weiss Schnee?" She whispered.

Cinder nodded, looking amused. "So it is. Well, I guess we found our tour guides for today."

The trio sidestepped the rest of the groups who tried to approach them, Emerald growling at the ones whose gazes lingered on her leader for a little _too_ long. Mercury rolled his eyes at some of the jealous looks being thrown at him, and flipped the bird at one of the larger, more muscular guys with ugly cropped hair who glared at him, the dude trying and failing to look intimidating. He looked more like one of those brawn over brain types in chick flicks.

But the girls here were certainly in a league of their own though. Mercury winked at some of the female students they'd passed, receiving a few sly winks in return.

Cinder smiled demurely, batting her eyelashes when the Schnee heiress looked up to meet her eyes. Ice blue contrasted with burning amber, and Weiss felt herself jolt when their gazes clashed.

"Cinder Fall." The girl before her held out her hand, prompting Weiss to return the gesture. She did of course, though albeit reluctantly. "Pleasure to meet you. Is your team by any chance, tour guides? We were just looking for one to show us around Beacon." Cinder said, her gaze shifting toward the other two girls standing behind the heiress.

"Nice to meet you, Cinder. I'm Weiss Schnee, if you haven't already noticed." Weiss nodded. "And yes, we'll be glad to help. Well then, I suppose that introductions are in order?"

Blake blinked, taking it as a cue to step forward. She shut the book in her hands, shooting a look at her partner who groaned, but reluctantly did the same.

"I'm Blake. Blake Belladonna." She said, looking over the three of them with a cool gaze. Emerald caught the lack of enthusiasm in her voice and nearly snorted, but managed to catch herself just in time. It wouldn't do to make a bad first impression after all.

"Emerald sustrai. And this idiot beside me is-"

"Mercury Black, at your service." He smirked at Emerald, who responded with an annoyed twitch of her eyebrows. "Don't mind her, she was born with that stick up her ass."

The blonde let out a sharp bark of laughter, causing Weiss to shake her head in what seemed to be irritation. Blake just sighed and shot a small nod of recognition in Cinder's direction, which she returned.

"Sup. I'm Yang Xiao Long, certified badass." Yang grinned. "By the way, where are you guys from? Atlas?" She guessed.

"Mistral, actually. Haven academy." Emerald replied. "This is our first Vytal festival."

"First?" Blake eyed them. "You guys are first years?"

"Yes. We don't exactly look the part, we know. We've had some…rough spots but hey, we're here now." Emerald scrunched her nose up in what she thought was a display of discomfort. She inwardly grinned when Blake's eyes widened in realization, catching the 'implication' in her words.

Cinder observed as the girl with the black bow suddenly looked apologetic, making a quick apology to which Emerald shrugged off with a small smile and a shake of her head.

Despite Emerald's fanatical tendencies when it came to her, Cinder knew what the red-eyed girl was capable off. Years on the streets had crafted a truly devious personality, equipped with the skills needed to manipulate and deceive. Her butter fingers were just a bonus, and a good way to earn some pocket change.

"Hey, can we go now? You guys are boring the crap outta me." Yang glared at Weiss, who was sending her a particularly nasty look at the rather rude remark. She thumbed at the other tour guides who were beginning to leave the hall. "If you wanna beat the crowd, we should probably go now. Besides, the faster we finish, the faster we can all grab a bite to eat."

Mercury laughed. "_Now_ you're speaking my language."

Weiss nodded. "Alright then, where shall we head to first?"

* * *

The tour was tolerable. Cinder felt that it could've gone worse than expected, but they managed to collect a significant amount of information on Beacon's offenses, defences, and number of staff working here thanks to one Weiss Schnee. The heiress had been the perfect tour guide. Or perhaps, even _too_ perfect. The girl was practically giving away information on a silver platter, giving the trio a detailed history lesson and upgrades that the school had gone through. Well, it was a good thing that the girl was quite the show-off.

Cinder smiled, her lips curving upwards. Weiss Schnee was a perfect example of how the road to hell was paved with good intentions.

On her left, Mercury suddenly laughed long and loud, jarring her out of her musings. On her right, Emerald looked up from her plate of food and scowled at him.

"Goddamn it, is five minutes of quiet so hard?" She sniped. "I will literally pay you to shut up at this point." She jabbed the roasted piece of chicken on her plate, eyes nearly rolling out of her head. Opposite of her, Blake hid a smirk behind her novel, having already finished her sandwich minutes ago.

"C'mon, you know you want me." He joked before gulping down a mouthful of water.

"Enough, you two." Cinder cut in before Emerald started threatening him with bodily harm. "You're making a bad impression."

Yang chortled, chomping down her own meal with fervour. Beside her, Weiss made a sound of disgust and handed her a napkin, which she snatched away with a small thank you. Blake pinched the blonde on the arm when she saw that the girl was about to burp. Yang yelped, and glared at her, but when she caught the trio staring at her she had the decency to look slightly embarrassed.

Cinder took the lull in conversation to take in her surroundings. The lunch room was decadently large, columns lining the four corners with a hulking archway between two of them. The canteen was said to be ridiculously full during lunch hour, rumours of students nearly squished together like sardines in a tin can. Fortunately, the Schnee heiress's tour had finished after lunch, so they were all able to get a seat with relative ease. Well…not only that actually. When they'd entered the lunch room, the students who had been previously lounging around scattered as team WBY stepped into view.

The expert dust user noted that the stares directed at them were mostly focused on Weiss, but those same pairs of eyes seemed rather wary of Yang as well.

"Hey blondie." A large figure suddenly stepped into view, sneering at team WBY. "Nice to see you on your feet for once, and not your back." Cardin mocked.

"Open your eyes smartass, I'm sitting. Get something for your eyes, or at least something for your face. You're making me lose my appetite." She made a face, and stretched her arms above her head. Emerald didn't miss the way his eyes lingered on her generous chest area, and the way his cronies around him squirmed where they stood. It would be laughable, if it weren't so pathetic.

"Go away Winchester." Blake said, her eyes not even lifting from her book. "We're busy."

"Shut your trap, Belladonna." Cardin spat, eyeing her with annoyance.

"Spare us your worthless drivel." Weiss rolled her eyes, taking a bite of her scone. "Why are you really here? I was under the assumption that being a pest was a full time job."

"A rematch. Team CRDL against WBY." Cardin snarled, flexing his hands as if about to pull out his weapon. Mercury noted with a smirk that none of the three girls rose to the bait, merely lifting their eyebrows and looking at each other in disbelief.

"What for? You got your ass handed to you the last time." Yang snorted. "Or are you just into that type of kinky bullshit?"

Cardin looked confused for a moment, before he flushed angrily. "What?! Fuck you slut, we just want a rematch, alright? So shut that-"

The table trembled when Yang slammed her fist on the wooden surface, her hair beginning to glow. She stared at him, crimson eyes promising a world of pain as she lifted her hand off the table to reveal a web of cracks spreading out from the point of impact. Emerald felt temperature of the air around her rising, and shot the girl an impressed look. That was some semblance. She made a few mental theories, and tucked them away for now.

"Say that word again, Winchester. I dare you." Yang seethed. "Say it, and the morgue will have one more body to clean and _burn_."

Cardin, who suddenly looked visibly shaken, took a step back. "W-Whatever. We're going to have that rematch in the next sparring class, with or without your permission."

Cinder looked at Yang and the others with arched brows when the four boys had disappeared out of sight. The murmur in the canteen rose by several pitches after that particular scene. "Care to tell us what that lovely scene was all about?"

Weiss sighed through her nose, polishing off the last of her scones with one final nibble. "That buffoon you just saw is Cardin Winchester, team leader of CRDL. They've been nothing but a thorn in our side since Yang broke Cardin's jaw in their last fight."

Mercury shot the boxer a grin, holding his hand up for a high five. "Awesome work, blondie."

Yang returned his grin with one of her own, her hand meeting his in a loud smack. "Right?" She crowed. "The dude had it coming. Eh, I did the school a service."

"Well thanks to your '_service'_, he won't leave us alone! We've been harangued every time he catches sight of us." Weiss grumbled. "It's annoying."

"Don't act all high and mighty princess. If it weren't for me, the dick bag would have still been asking you out every chance he got."

"It could have been handled better." Weiss conceded with a grimace. "That's all I'm saying."

"Well if you'd just stop saying-"

Blake shut her book with a snap, the abruptness of it causing the arguing duo to stop out of surprise.

"Can you pass me that cup, Mercury?"

He nodded, pushing her cup in her direction. "Here ya go." After she thanked him with a nod, he turned his attention back to Yang, his gaze flitting down to the fist sized hole in the table. That display of strength had been very impressive. He didn't know much people who had that kind of power.

"You went all glowy like a light stick just now. That your semblance?" He poked, hoping to get some information. On the other side of Cinder, Emerald inwardly groaned. Strong he was, smart he was _not_. Mercury had the subtly of an Ursa in a china shop.

Thankfully, Yang was none the wiser, and had begun preening.

"You betcha. What you saw was something of a side effect of my semblance."

"Woah, even the red eyes?"

"Yep. My semblance is kinda like-"

"Yang!" Weiss cut in sharply. Startled, Yang turned to her with a simultaneously confused and annoyed look. "What?!" She huffed. Mercury leaned back into his seat, exchanging looks with Emerald.

"Your drink." The heiress pointed out calmly. "You were about to knock it over."

"Are you serious? You interrupted me just for- oh." Realisation dawned on Yang's face. Her expression melted from one of anger to one of sheepishness. "Okay, gotcha. Thanks."

Emerald looked between the two girls. "What?"

Yang shook her head, shooting her a forced smile. "No, it's nothing."

Mercury folded his arms, looking more confused than ever. "Okaay? Anyways, you were saying-"

This time it was Blake who cut in, smiling apologetically when he shot her a '_are you kidding me'_ look. She tapped the glass face of her watch, turning her head to look at both Yang and Weiss.

"I forgot we had an appointment with team JNPR. We actually arranged for a sparring match today. Professor Goodwitch will be furious if we don't turn up, we did ask her to supervise after all."

Cinder saw the way their shoulders tensed underneath the questioning looks, and bit down a smirk. Oh these kids were just too easy.

"We'll be heading off as well then. We still have to unpack, isn't that right?" She asked, pushing herself out of the seat. Emerald nodded at the words and stood from hers as well.

"I remember the way to our dorms. That direction, right?" Emerald pointed.

"Right. Well, it was nice meeting you all but if you'd excuse us, we had better not be late for our meeting." Weiss told them. "In any case, we'll be seeing you in our classes soon. And oh! Welcome to Beacon."

"Don't be so dramatic." Blake nudged her in the shoulder. Weiss looked suitably miffed, turning her attention to her team mate. "I am not!" She screeched. As the bickering between the two grew, Cinder and her team gave team WBY one last look before disappearing out of sight.

* * *

"What was that about?" Mercury asked, as soon as they'd settled down in their temporary home. The room was plain, but after being stuck in dingy rooms at the White Fang hideout, it was practically a godsend. He thanked dust for the white bedsheets and infinitely better plumbing.

"Blondie suddenly went all tight-lipped once the ice queen interrupted us."

Emerald sighed. "Wasn't it obvious? The heiress didn't want her to give out the information."

"We weren't _that_ suspicious, were we?"

"No you moron. It's because of the festival. She thinks that if we know too much about their semblances, we might get an upper hand." She made a face. "Belladonna is probably in on it too. Did you see the way she backed her up?"

Mercury kicked his shoes off and lay down on the soft mattress. "Yep. Oh yeah, she was pretty suspicious of us when we'd met wasn't she?"

His partner huffed at the memory. Blake's question would have been nerve-wracking if she wasn't prepared for it. But Emerald was definitely more than prepared.

"Ha, be thankful that I threw her off. People are always suckers for the '_we had a hard life but we made it_' bull crap."

She shrugged. It helped that it wasn't completely untrue. White lies were much harder to detect.

"Do you think we should keep an eye on team WBY, Cinder?" Emerald asked. When there was no reply, save for Mercury's annoying snickering, the red-eyed girl sat up and looked toward where her leader was sitting.

"Cinder…?"

The second time her name was called, the woman in question looked up from her scroll, the mask of concentration broken. A flicker of irritation crossed her face, but it was gone as soon as it came, replaced by a mask of indifference. "Yes?" Her tone made Emerald shiver, as it usually did.

"M-Mercury and I were wondering if we should keep an eye on those girls. You know, the ones we met today?" She stuttered, flushing under Cinder's piercing gaze. On the bed beside hers, her partner rolled his eyes.

"Yes, it would be in our best interests to do so." Cinder purred. "Being near the Schnee heiress may be risky, but if we're careful enough, it would prove to be most rewarding. For now, we should get closer to them on the pretence of friendship. I also hear that Pyrrha Nikos is part of the her circle of acquaintances."

"I'll be glad to help, Cinder!" Emerald's voice rose by several octaves, which made Cinder smile wryly. This girl was certainly loyal to the point of stupidity.

"Of course. You and Mercury are very important to me." Cinder husked, the words making even Mercury's chest fill with pride. He smirked at no one in particular, while Emerald looked as if she were about to collapse from happiness.

_Ding!_

The scroll beeped, drawing Cinder's attention. As her two pawns continued to bask in the praise, she opened the message with several taps of her finger, and felt a smattering of surprise seize her. She recognized that it was one of the unknown numbers belonging to the White fang, but the message itself was not. The words were polite and honeyed, but they reeked of insincerity and superiority.

"A bullhead…" Cinder murmured, a small frown creasing her forehead. "I suppose I could spare one, if only to speed the process up."

It seemed that Ruby was well versed in the art of getting what she wanted as well. Cinder would have been impressed, if the vampire did not have decades upon decades to learn and master the art of words and seduction. Cinder craved for power, and for Ruby to be pandering to that power-hungry side of her would have been flattering, if it wasn't for the underlying message in her actions.

She recognized that this trait could be manipulated and used, and if Cinder wasn't careful, she would strung along like a puppet on strings, dancing to the Vampire's tune. It was a scary thought but at the same time it delighted her. A worthy adversary.

Cinder typed out a message agreeing to the use of the bullhead, and pressed the 'send' button, a feeling of anticipation taking hold of her.

* * *

The sound of the bullhead split the sky as it soared through the air.

The silence of the cabin was shattered by Penny's excited squeal as she pressed herself into the glass to stare at the wondrously blue ocean beneath them. One arm was hooked between Ruby's and Neo watched with a sick enjoyment when the vampire was dragged along to another window, groaning as loud as the bullhead's engine.

"Penny." She tried to say, but was cut off by another high pitched squeal that could've shattered the windows. "Oh good lord why is this happening."

"Master Ruby!" Penny gaped at the wide ocean of blue, shimmering gently as it reflected the sunlight. "This is absolutely wonderful! This 'Ocean' is a truly a thing to be worshipped!"

"Penny, please try to control yourself." The vampire pried the metal hand wrapped around her wrist, careful not to break them off the joints. "Do you remember what I've told you to do?"

"Of course!" The ginger android beamed. "Worry not, for everything will go as you have planned! Friend Neo is here to help as well, so there is nothing to fear!"

Neo shuddered under the look Penny gave her, and pretended to look out of the window. Ruby nodded, satisfied by the response. She let her pet continue her sightseeing and took a seat beside Neo, rolling her eyes when the criminal pointed at the android and made a rather rude face.

'_Motherhood suits you.' _She signed, her lips curved into a unkind smile.

"If you weren't already unable to talk, I would be ripping your tongue out." Ruby smirked at the wide-eyed look on Neo's face, and propped her hand under her chin. "The look on your face is glorious." The vampire mocked.

"W-We're approaching the Atlus military base, Miss Ruby." The pilot called from the nose of the plane, trying his best to squash down any lingering nerves. "Any f-further instructions?" He asked, praying that she wouldn't come near him. To his relief, the vampire sent the strange robot girl to the front, with instructions that she would the one to answer the comm device when they'd made contact with the military base.

"We'll be landing soon."

Ruby smiled, flexing her hands. Neo swallowed unconsciously, feeling the burn in her throat at the prospect of killing a lot of someones. It'd been far too long since she got any fighting. The boredom had set in sometime when Roman switched from robbing dust shops to categorizing their dust supplies, and for a creature like Neo who thrived on bloodshed and destruction, it was the worst kind of torture.

'_Who were we supposed to kill again_?' She signed.

"The Lieutenant General my dear. It seems that he's enough of a threat to end up on Cinder's list, most likely due to his fondness of Ironwood. The man could single-handedly topple our plans if he learns of them." Ruby said. "At this moment though, most of the Atlus military have been shipped to Beacon, courtesy of our dead general for the Vytal festival. All we have to do is murder the rest of the soldiers on base, and our target."

Neo smiled. '_Sounds easy enough._'

Ruby shook her head almost pityingly, looping her arm around Neo's neck. The criminal glared at her, but made no movement to escape her grasp. "Don't get your hopes up and never let your guard down. It is when we feel the safest, that we are at our weakest."

'_That is surprisingly cynical of you._' Neo looked to her questioningly.

Ruby laughed, the sound as coarse as sandpaper. "One doesn't live as long as I have and still be _hopeful_." She spat the word out with a look of revulsion. "Hope is just a word disguised as the martyr, when in reality, it is the one which brings everything to an end."

"Master Ruby, We have made contact!" Penny shouted, "As you've said, they did not recognize me as a threat, but rather, as a friend." The android said, her cheery tone turning into one of confusion. "How very odd."

Ruby smile transformed into a malicious grin, the sight of it making Neo's heart flutter.

"You see, Neo." Ruby said. "Hope. It encompasses everything that is wrong with this world."

'_You knew_.' She breathed. '_You knew they would recognize Penny_.'

"Of course!" The vampire laughed, looking at the military base that was rising toward her as the bullhead descended. "She was the fruit of their efforts, their weapon. Even if the military knew that the general was dead, they did not think that way of Penny, since her body was never found."

'_So you made them hope._'

"Yes. Do you think she was built for _peace_? To them, Penny is an object of power. Therefore, her return signifies that power is returning to them. But unfortunately…"

The bullhead shuddered as it landed, Penny finally leaving the pilot to his own devices and making her way towards the door. The weapons hidden in her back rattled, eager to escape their metal prison.

"I will use that power to _crush them all_."

* * *

**AN: **Whoo, new chapter! I'm finally trying to stick to a schedule, so expect updates every Tuesday or so. I hope the last part of this chapter wasn't too confusing, because I read through the reviews and realized that though I know what's going on, I didn't make it clear enough for the people reading it. And I tend to be too foreshadowy so yep, trying to cut down on that too.

In case it was confusing, the part with Cinder and team at Beacon is before the events of the last chapter, when the Faunus told Ruby that her request for the bullhead was granted? Yeah, I dunno why it turned out like that lol. And did you guys see episode 1?! I fell in love with Neo all over again dear lord :')

As always, thank you guys for reading the latest chapter! When I see new follows and favs, and reviews, all I can think is HOLY FFFUK I LOVE YOU ALL!


	8. Chapter 8

An explosion rocked the entire base.

The lieutenant general shot out of his seat, jolted out of his daily nap. Getting to his feet and briskly walking toward the window facing the plane runway, he peered out of it warily. His breath caught, a sudden burst of surprise flooding through him when he saw thick, black smoke wafting from one of the aircraft hangars. He couldn't make out much of what was happening, but he could see his soldiers scattering like ants, running away from the building.

Keen eyes raked over the area, and a flash of green caught his attention. It was too far to identify, but it looked to be a person of some sort, judging by the lean figure and calculated movements. The unknown figure headed toward the buildings and away from the bullhead. Jack felt his fingers clench when he put two and two together. Some of his men must have authorised the landing.

The bullhead looked to have just landed, judging by the whirring of the motor blades and the tumultuous air around it. To his growing frustration, the figure disappeared behind the buildings and left the area devoid of any movement, save for the aircraft.

Jack pushed himself away from the window, cursing under his breath. This would be the last time he left those airheaded buffoons to man the communications line. The general sent most of their good men to Vale, and the dregs which had fallen behind had gotten it into their thick skulls that they were pleased to do as they see fit.

"Useless bunch." Jack growled, slipping on his military coat. His office was located just above the communications hub, he was going to kill them for letting intruders onto the base. They _knew_ that any non-atlas aircrafts were supposed to be warned away! At worst, warning missiles would have been deployed, but he hadn't even heard those go off. He stabbed the button angrily, waiting for the lift to ascend to his level. The media were going to have his head if they found out about this.

* * *

The soldier stiffened and spun around when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps.

"Sir-"

"Spare me your apologies." Jack swept past him, glowering in irritation. "Just tell me what the hell is going on down there."

The soldier nodded frantically, barking out orders to the men and women who were stationed in front of a screen. The comms tower was safely slotted between the barracks and the weapons warehouse, which gave Jack a sense of ease. Whoever it was wouldn't be able to come within ten feet of the tower without being bombarded by armed soldiers and Atlesian Knights.

"Get me a visual." The lieutenant general ordered as he looked up at the giant screen hanging from a pair of steel beams. A grainy image fizzled into existence, the cameras outside the aircraft hangar sweeping from left to right. To their combined frustration and worry, the area empty and devoid of any life. Their worry multiplied tenfold when the camera zoomed in on a large, scorch mark on the ground that was heading in the direction of the barracks.

"Has anyone contacted the men who were at the site of the attack?"

"We did General, about ten minutes ago." Someone spoke up, "But we haven't been able to get in touch since."

"Alright, and I also want to know who gave whoever the hell they are, permission to land. You better have a good explanation, or you'll be labelled as their accomplice."

The air in the room grew heavy as everyone shuffled in their seats. Jack felt red hot fury coiling at the base of his stomach, each muffled murmur only increasing his ire. After what seemed like an eternity, an ear grating screech shattered the uncomfortable silence, and all eyes turned to its source. The man stood shakily at his station, frozen in a one armed salute. Jack shut his eyes, and breathed.

"What the _fuck_ were you thinking?" He grinded out, one hand curled into a tight fist.

"I-It was- I didn't know sir." The soldier shrank back under the piercing glare. "Penny was the one who answered us, and I just-"

Jack flexed his jaw. "Did it not occur to you, that it could have been a recording? _Hm_? Are you going to authorize anyone to enter just because they sound like Penny?"

The man sagged. "But it was really-"

"_I don't care!_" Jack roared, causing everyone in the room to flinch. "Because of your actions, you've put the people on this base in jeopardy. Keep your excuses to yourself, because I don't want to hear any of them." He reached up to massage his temples. The muscles in his arms tensed when he heard several slow claps behind him.

"How intimidating." A feminine voiced purred, accompanied by the click of heels that chilled his blood. Jack choked when he turned around to see the familiar face that set his teeth on edge. Shivers racked his body, and the large, heavy set man took a step back, flinching when she smiled.

"You. What are _you_ doing here?" He spat, unaware of the gazes of his men. They all exchanged confused looks, and stared at the intruder. No one moved, their bodies frozen as they contemplated on their next actions. Jack snarled, the edges of his lip curling aggressively as his hand flew to the holster on his hip.

The vampire looked non-plussed as he levelled the gun at her, smiling all the while. Ruby licked her lips. She could smell his fear, and the beating of his heart was like a siren's song that beckoned her with every hollowed thump.

"I think you know, Jack." She said. "I'm here to settle the score. You should have thought better of siding with Ozpin all those years ago. Now, you're going to pay. Like Ironwood did."

White hot anger surged through him, the implication of her words bringing forth his righteous fury. Hands steadying, he could feel his heart pumping furiously as his finger danced above the trigger. He wouldn't allow her to get the drop on him.

A sinking feeling in his gut seized him when Ruby raised her hand and made a come hither motion, but his gun still remained firmly trained on her forehead. If he could at least distract her, his men would be able to contact Ozpin or relay the message somehow. There was a slim chance of that happening, but it was all they had. The grip on his gun tightened, and silence that had fallen over the entire room was deafening. And then-

James Ironwood walked in.

The gun fell to the ground, clattering noisily. Jack choked, his breath coming out in ragged bursts. Mind blank and body shaking, his arms fell limp to his sides. Ruby ran a hand through her crimson tipped hair with a small sigh. The people in the room gasped when they caught site of the fangs, but she ignored them in favour of pitying the man in front of her. Jack was reduced to a wide-eyed mess, thrown entirely off balance by the appearance of his _precious_ general.

Ruby sneered. "How utterly predictable. I wonder what Ozpin ever saw in you, other than your dog-like loyalty."

The vampire tilted her head to meet the amused gaze of 'James Ironwood'. The man gave her a mischievous smirk, waiting for her next orders. Every man and woman in the communications hub were looking at them with a mixture of confusion and elation. It was time to put an end to it.

Ruby nodded. "Get him."

Jack reeled back when the supposedly dead general sprang forward with an agility that did not suit his stature. His eyes narrowed, the delight bleeding out of his eyes. And then it happened. The general suddenly morphed in front of his very eyes, the large stature shrinking into a smaller one, greying hair replaced by brown-pink-white, military coat replaced by an off white blazer.

By the time his body reacted, Neo's blade was already buried deep in his chest.

Ruby smiled when the communications room devolved into chaos as the lieutenant general went down without so much as a peep. Taking a step forward, her shoes squelching loudly in the thick pool of blood, she merely arched a brow when three soldiers came at her with daggers. At the corner of her eye, Ruby saw Neo slicing one of her own attackers in half with her hidden sword. The upper body fell ungracefully with a sickening splat, and the lower half tumbled backwards.

Half of her face dripping with fresh blood, Neo shot her a wink, licking off a rivulet of blood that trickled down her cheek.

Ruby easily avoided the angry slashes and thrusts, kicking two of her attackers backwards. The remaining one lunged at her once more, going for her neck. The irony of that made her laugh, and in the blink of an eye she held the man by his throat, sharp fingernails digging painfully into his tanned skin. She lunged. The soldier was dead before he even had the time to struggle, a large section of his throat torn out by Ruby's bite.

She spat out the chunk of meat, savouring spray of blood that drenched her tongue. She took in a deep breath, licking the warm liquid off her fingers and shuddered when she took in the fearful and disgusted faces around her. "It's been a long time since I let loose." She said, her tone taking on a wistful note.

Ruby blinked when a gunshot split the air, a bullet ripping through her forehead.

Neo immediately finished off the woman she'd been stabbing, and ran over worriedly. She grasped her arm, almost expecting the vampire to drop dead.

Ruby groaned, hands reaching up to touch the wound. Neo's grip instantly slackened at the action and swept her mismatched eyes across the room. She took in the sight of her target, the gun pointed straight at them. The soldier was frozen in shock, utterly stunned that Ruby hadn't dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

"Nice shot." She commented. Her smile curved deviously, turning into a smirk instead.

"That's the only one you'll get. So, as a gesture of goodwill-"

Ruby ran her hands soothingly along Neo's stiff shoulders, assuring her that she was unharmed. The woman leaned into her touch, the relieved gaze meeting a cold one.

"-you'll be the last to die. Now, Neo? If you would do the honours."

* * *

"_With all due respect sir." Jack shook his head. "I find this very hard to believe." _

_James shot his oldest friend an amused smirk. "What did I tell you, Ozpin?" _

"_You were right." Ozpin chuckled, taking a sip from his mug. _

"_Sir?" The lieutenant general looked between them, brows furrowed in confusion. Although they were having a laugh at his expense, the lack of malice in their words told him that it was merely in jest. If only he could figure out why this was funny. "I don't quite understand what is going on."_

"_I apologize, lieutenant." Ozpin smiled. "But I understand why my claims may seem rather…farfetched."_

_He shrugged. "I have heard my fair share of absurd things, so it will take a fair amount of proof to convince me of your words Headmaster Ozpin." He turned to James, who was observing them with a wry look. Noticing his second in command fidgeting uncomfortably, the general sought to relieve him and brought out several rolls of papers before handing them to Ozpin. _

"_Here. The plans for the generator you were so keen on building." _

"_Ah. I knew it was the right decision to ask for your expertise." Ozpin chuckled. "I'm ashamed to admit that despite my age, my knowledge on machines is still rather lacking. I usually leave them to my sister." _

_James looked at him sharply. "After what she tried to do, you still call her that? Sometimes I really wonder what's going on in that head of yours." A deep breath. "You should have crushed her when you had the chance."_

_The man shook his head, face impassive. "I couldn't have done it, James. We've fought enough times for her to know that. Ruby and I may just be doomed to continue this cycle forever." _

"_But this will only give her incentive to try harder!" The general scowled. "If this machine is completed, you'll be at a disadvantage. It's too high a price to pay. Although she can't lay a finger on you, you'll be confined to this academy unless someone turns the damn thing off, or destroys it. " _

"_If this is the only way for us to coexist." Ozpin said firmly. "Then I am willing to do whatever it takes."_

* * *

Ruby smiled when the man groaned, finally stirring. Uncrossing her feet, she draped the faded red cloak around her shoulders, fastening them with sturdy, silver pins shaped like crosses. Smoothing down the wrinkled portion of her black pants, she sauntered over to the lieutenant general calmly, waiting for him to focus.

His eyelids fluttered wildly, the man groggy from the pain of his wound. His trip down memory lane was slowly bleeding out of his mind as he came to. When his blurry vision finally steadied, Jack was treated to the sight of the vampire towering over his hunched figure, smirking down at him. His pulse quickened, his body reacting to the presence of a predator. Instinctively, he began to struggle, the fear in his gut only increasing as he felt his hands strain against the ropes that bound his body to the rickety chair. Pupils dilating and stomach roiling, he swallowed roughly, the wound in his chest throbbing with each heavy thump of his heart.


	9. Chapter 9

The blood from the paper thin cuts dripped down his binds, each droplet oozing down the rope led by the subtle pull of gravity. Ruby observed this, the vampire leaning against the wall of the 'interrogation' room used by the White Fang, one corner of her mouth curved upwards in a half smile.

She observed as he struggled madly against the ropes that pinned him to the metal chair, a series of groans escaping him every five minutes or so. A quick glance at the syringe placed innocently on the table beside her made Ruby smile. The sludge like liquid she had injected into him wasn't concentrated enough to kill him, but it would certainly break him in ways others wouldn't have dared to imagine.

Jack stared at nothing in particular with bloodshot eyes. Or at least, that was what he seemed to be doing to casual observers. The man himself was seeing something vastly different.

Through his eyes, it seemed that dark liquid began to seep through the cracks of the wall, the bulbous ooze forming towering faceless figures. They mulled about, seemingly unaware of his presence at first. Noises in the form of warbles and squelching sounds were exchanged, each blob tilting this way and that – the air thick like tar. Suffocating.

Their low warbles soon transformed into high pitched screams when they spotted him, and the sounds soon became something akin to shards of glass being shoved down his ears. He felt them bleeding. The weight of a thousand souls pounded on his chest, thrusting their invisible smoky tendrils into his breast and reached for his rapidly weakening heart, his legs soon beginning to shake.

His lower body went numb, his breaths becoming increasingly erratic. It was like all the oxygen in this personal hell had condensed into a tight bubble around his head, no bigger than the size of his cranium. The faceless piles of ooze soon turned beastlike, yet also strangely humanoid. They came for him, black teeth and canines and all. The last thing Jack registered, as he stared at these moaning creatures, was something slick and wet slipping down his thighs before going into another screaming fit.

Ruby wrinkled her nose at the sudden stench, becoming increasingly irritated at the sharp smells. It would have emptied her stomach had she been human. Her concoction was working as good as always. It had only been twenty minutes since the mixture of Grimm Blood and her own had been pumped into his veins.

A soft rap on the door caught her attention.

"Oh." Ruby blinked as the door opened by a crack, leaving her to stare into the face of one Roman Torchwick. "It's you."

He tried not to let his uneasiness show and suppressed the urge to take several steps backwards. The gentleman thief made an expression of distaste when the strong waft of urine made itself known to him, thanking the fact that the door was only slightly ajar. Ruby didn't bother to walk over, knowing that he could hear her just fine from his position.

"I need Neo for a heist. Everyone's busy with their own shit." He said wearily, pointedly glancing down at his bandaged thigh. The wound had healed up nicely, but there were still times where he would suddenly get sharp pangs of pain after he'd exerted himself. "I don't usually need help but…"

The '_no thanks to you_' went unsaid, but the smirk on Ruby's face told him that she knew exactly what he was thinking. Stupid vampire, he thought sourly.

"If she doesn't object, neither will I." Ruby shrugged, running her tongue over her fangs. "Seeing as we've already executed our latest plans, Neo is free to do whatever she wishes. I trust that she won't be away for long, though?"

"Of course. I'm no newbie." He nodded, "There might be a few hiccups since we're going for one of the Schnee warehouses, but–"

The man cringed when he was cut off by an ear splitting scream. The vampire directed her gaze toward her prisoner, clicking her tongue when she saw that Jack was free from his binds and was now spasming on the floor in his own excrement. That scene did nothing to wet her appetite. She was still pretty full from the meal she had at the military base. She had gorged herself on blood before disposing of the bodies.

They were probably rotting at the bottom of the ocean as she spoke.

"I'll let you get back to _that_." Roman muttered, gently rubbing his wound. "Just keep your snack away from the break room."

She laughed sharply. Roman barely covered up his flinch before he sped away, eager to put distance between himself and the vampire.

* * *

In her own private room, Neo was having the time of her life. The little trip to Atlas had given her the opportunity to claim one of the prisoners as her own. As soon as they were back at the base, Ruby had tugged Penny away to perform maintenance which left Neo to her own devices. With a savage grin that could have curdled blood, she chose her victim among the shivering bodies tucked into cages on the bullhead and held the iron grip on his arm as his comrades were dragged away like bullies on a schoolyard.

Neo chose him. The man who'd shot at Ruby. _Her_ Ruby.

He was resilient, that much Neo would admit. She couldn't remembered how much time had passed. Minutes? Hours? Days? But none of that mattered in the end, because the tri-coloured woman had broken him _thoroughly_, with cold cutting precision – each twist of her knife, each stab of hot, poisoned needles – were cruelly designed to prolong her fun, not shorten it.

If Neo could have made sounds, she would have thrown her head back and _tittered_ as she watched the man dangle from the wires around his arms, the steel wires sunken so deep into his flesh that they became a part of him. The crusted stubs he'd once called his legs gleamed like bronze trophies under the harsh light of the room.

His eyes were now mismatched, one brown and the other red, courtesy of her trusty scalpel. The only similarity left was the look of utter blankness in them, devoid of any life or emotion. One could almost confuse him for a puppet, had a string of drool not hung from his scabbed lips and his chest not been rising up and down like choppy waves an angry sea.

Neo moaned breathily as she eased herself onto her bed, flinging the blood crusted gloves into the waste paper basket. The rest of the room had been cordoned off with imaginary lines, and while the area where the body hung was messy and chaotic, the rest of her room was neat and orderly. She spritzed something sweet smelling into the air and let her shoulders relax.

'_Now that's what I call therapeutic._' She sighed, running a hand through her hair. With her victim knocking on the death's doors and the lack of attention from Ruby, Neo soon realized that she was bored. And she _hated_ being bored.

Another thing she considered more precious than ice cream; was time. Hence, she had sworn to herself to only spend this finite commodity on things she deemed worthy or liked. Ruby had etched herself into that list. Permanently. Torture, of the physical and psychological kind, was also on that list.

Neo licked her lips and pondered. There was something else as well. The word soon began to emerge from the back of her mind, wrenching itself free from the mental block it was buried under. Her lips stretched to accommodate an excited smirk. Yes it was–

"Neo." Roman's voice floated through the door, dry and impatient "It's time for a heist. Grab your purse, and let's go."


End file.
